The last of the first men
by Lightimus
Summary: The fourth great shinobi war would lead to the freedom of all men or a prison made from the illusion of a mad man. The outcome of the war would be determined by one. Naruto's capture or conquer would decide the course of the war so the kage's decided to seal him. The war ended in a way no one could have predicted and time passed as one of the most powerful shinobi became forgotten.


The last of the first men

Chapter 1 - New Beginnings

AN: Well I'm sure anyone who reads this story will be follows of Naruto: the missing nin. missing nin is 33% complete and I'll try to get it finished by next week but we'll see. Sorry for being afk for so long but my life during last semester was turbulent to say the least. I had my best friend and roommate shatter is tibia in five places. He had to stay in the hospital for a month and physical therapy for two along with withdrawing for the semester. In addition to that my brother who also lives with me developed bipolar disorder along with drug addiction and alcoholism. Anyway, I digress. Here was a story that I'm not sure I will continue but never the less I had the idea and I started writing it.

Disclaimer: I do not own and cannot come close to properly portraying the characters from Naruto and Game of Thrones. This is my blend of the two stories but please support their official release.

Shortly after Naruto's triumph over the falls of truth at Turtle Island, he entered the passage under the waterfall to continue his training. Following B's instructions he ventured into the inner sanctum of the temple that ended at a set of large ancient stone doors. B grabbed the giant handles of the doors and pulled, slowly opening the set. As the doors began to pull apart, light as bright as the sun began streaming out of the room blinding the blond shinobi. When Naruto's eyes finally adjusted he was met with an endless room of white expanse. How such a room existed with no walls and light illuminating without a source was beyond his comprehension.

"Yo B, what is this place?" Naruto asked as his face scrunched up in confusion.

For once, B had a serious expression on his face. He didn't even rhyme the next words he spoke, "This is the sacred training grounds of Amegakura. Very few shinobi of the rain are allowed here, and you are the first outsider of the village to be here. This is a very special place that is separate from our world. The room as you can see exists, but at the same time it does not exist."

Naruto tore his gaze from the room to give B a blank stare, "What you just said made zero sense B."

B began stroking his chin with a hum. "Yo! Hey! Ho! Think of this room as place you can't go! The only way there is through this room! A jutsu to take you to and fro, begins and ends here at the flow! You get it yet you fool?"

Naruto gave B a grin, "Much better my man."

"Alright then come and follow me in."

As they began walking in, Naruto had no way to perceive the actual depth of the room except by using the entrance behind him as a reference point. After walking a fair distance away he noticed markings on the floor ahead. Once they got closer he could tell it was some kind of seal. The seal was drawn in a circle and was full of intricate markings inside it.

"This is a special seal to help you train. Step inside the circle and I'll turn it on," B said with a flat tone and expressionless face.

Naruto shrugged and stepped inside. Once he was in B went through a few hand signs before the seal began to glow. As soon as the seal began to glow a barrier formed around the blond that shimmered as it distorted the light.

"I'm sorry Naruto," B said.

B's words didn't reach Naruto though. The seal he was inside was one of the most powerful to ever exist. With the power to stop even time itself, the ancient seal surpassed even the fabled Uzumaki clan seals by leagues. Water started to fill the seal as Naruto began to beat against it. Slowly the water raised up until there was no air left, leaving a levitating orb of water with Naruto inside. Naruto continued to pound against the invisible barrier until he exhaled the breath he was so desperately trying to hold. Water filled his burning lungs but brought relief instead of more pain. Slowly adjusting to the strange sensation of breathing water he noticed his body began to feel heavy. He thought it was strange how his body was registering weight when suspended in a body of water but his thoughts began to blur as his eyes began to close. The adrenalin and chakra that seconds ago was coursing though his body seemed to have vanished in an instant. His eyes closed and the darkness of his sight brought silence to his mind. Instantly the water froze and formed a spherical crystal in which Naruto resided with a peaceful expression found only on men when deep in sleep.

B sighed and left the room. He closed the door and in doing so left Naruto in a place where no one could reach him. There he would remain, frozen in time where the likes of Mardara could never touch. Once the war ended he would retrieve his fellow jinchuuriki, but for now the risk of Mardara capturing the Kyuubi and resurrecting the shinju was too great. The Kages agreed to the plan hoping that if Mardara did win the war, he would never see his plan come to fruition.

B and the rest of the shinobi on Turtle Island left to rejoin the war. This left Naruto hidden away on an island that moved with enough barriers and seals surrounding him that he might as well not exist at all.

After a few weeks the war came to a close. It ended in a way that no one could have ever predicted. Mardara brought an incomplete shinju into the world. Believing that the plan would still work even without the Kyuubi, he begin the eye of the moon plan. The ten tailed beast transformed into a towering pillar that instead of placing the world in a genjutsu, absorbed all of the chakra in existence. The shinju tried to complete itself by absorbing all of the chakra that once belonged to it hoping that doing so would complete itself. The result was that every creature that could form chakra, human and animal alike instantly died. Then the process of removing all the ambient chakra in the atmosphere (natural chakra) brought drastic climate changes. Once the shinju absorbed all the chakra it could reach, it released all of it in a instant. Unable to restore itself, the chakra contract exploded from the massive restrained energy. The result was the birth of dragons and myths alike. Instead of tailed beasts to be the main containers of chakra, mythical beasts that could control the elements were born. The result of this event changed the world and it happened in less than an hour.

Every human who could control chakra died, bringing man back to the stone age. With a large fraction of the population gone in an instant, very few people survived the harsh new climate. Seasons would not change periodically. If summer lasted for ten years, then winter would last for ten years. Dragons roamed the skies and would pray on the few humans who remained. Chakra control become a lost art and those who practiced it were condemned for belief of it to be the evil that caused the Earth to change. The history and life of shinobi were quickly lost and forgotten during the first harsh years of the planet's rebirth. Those who survived become known as the first men.

Eventually man rallied and began to thrive in the new harsher world. However, this small victory was swiftly ended as creatures known as the white walkers began to roam the lands one long winter. The white walkers were nothing like the problems man faced before. The white humanoids moved through the lands killing everything in their path. While the white walkers were nowhere near as powerful as dragons, they were still much stronger than any man. It was not until summer that these vile creatures returned to lands of the North.

No one but the people of the past would know what the white walkers truly were. They were previously known as the white Zetsus. After the shinobi war the few growing clones of Zetsu that never formed chakra were spared of death but left without purpose in the new world when they emerged after finishing their growth. They chose to hibernate and live by absorbing chakra from their surroundings much like a tree. When long winters came and not even chakra could survive in the baron tundra, they were forced to move to where they could feed off chakra. As they traveled south the awakened Zetsu's would engorge themselves on chakra by taking the life out of anything they passed. Their conquest would not end until they could return to the North and safely hibernate for years to come.

This caused mankind to change. First they built a wall of ice in the north that remains the largest structure ever built throughout all of history. Eventually the unknowing use of chakra allowed not only individuals to slay dragons but also tame the once wild beasts. Even with just a fraction of control over chakra, people were able toperform great feats.

A kingdom known as Westeros was born from man's unified purpose to survive the white walkers. The kingdom remained for thousands of years with never ending conflict. Each century brought new problems and at the end man grew stronger and wiser. Giants and dragons were believed to become extinct from numerous became less troublesome with agricultural advancement. Very few problems could arise but the sins of men will keep the cycle of hatred from ever ending. Currently the kingdom of Westeros is in the bloodiest civil war it has ever faced. Nearly every lord of every keep is battling to claim the title of king and sit upon the iron throne.

The entire war started from the death of one man. His name was Ned Stark. Thus the cycle of hatred continues.

Our story begins with the bastard son of Ned Stark, his name is Jon Snow. Jon currently had his sword on the back of a wildling's neck. Her name is Ygritte. Jon was many things, he is bastard of the warden of the north, he is a member of the Night's Watch, he is a skilled fighter, he is also a good man. A good man would not kill an unarmed woman for simply being born in the north. A wildling's she may be but a wildling who never did him wrong.

So Jon raised his sword and brought it down. The sound of the sword hitting stone was heard, but no blood or death came from it. He just couldn't do it.

Still on her knees with her head bowed, Ygritte made a split decision and kicked Jon hard enough in the stomach to make him double over. Wasting no time she scrambled and began to run. Ygritte ran as fast as she could ignoring the searing pain of every breath she took in the arctic air. Glancing over her shoulder she saw the crow in pursuit not too far behind. Her group was not too far off. They camped over the hill in front of her that stood roughly a mile away. Risking another glace behind her Ygritte saw no pursuer. Even without being chased she could not slow down. The faster she regrouped with her people the faster she would be able to kill the crows and avenge her friends.

The thoughts swirling in her head came crashing to a halt as she was tackled in her blind spot. Jon ran diagonally on the hill while Ygritte ran down giving him the advantage of running down hill longer. Jon held on to her even as they continued to tumble down the hill. They rolled and rolled until the two became weightless as they fell into a ravine. They fell for a second or two before they hit ground, both having the air wisped from their lungs. They laid panting for a few seconds until Jon reached into his pack to retrieve some rope. He rolled on top of the wildling and secured her arms behind her back. Ygritte resisted a little before she submitted. When Jon finished she said, "No use tying me up Jon Snow. Unless we work together we'll both be stuck down here to freeze to death."

Jon looked around and couldn't see anything in the darkness. The only light came from above their heads to illuminate the small area they landed in. Surrounding them was nothing but darkness so Jon reached for his flint and steel and began to light the torch in his sack. After a few flicks the sparks caught the torch and it was lit. Jon stepped into the shadows and held the torch forward but was met with only more darkness ahead. He walked for a minute or so and found no wall so he retraced his steps.

When Jon returned, Ygritte had her back to the wall and sat below the entrance they fell in. The slope of the wall curved inward making the ten meter climb back up impossible. Jon sighed and thought of what to do.

"If we can get a fire going someone might see the smoke," Jon suggested.

"What do you suppose we burn? Our cloaks? We'll freeze to death before the smoke even leaves the cave," Ygritte replied irately.

"Then what do you suggest? Climbing back up?" Jon asked sarcastically?

"No. We find the other way out," Ygritte answered as if it were obvious.

"What other way out? There is nothing but the dark that way," Jon said gesturing to where he ventured.

"There is always another way out of these caves Jon Snow. Besides, don't tell me you are afraid of the dark," Ygritte said with a grin.

Jon just sighed as Ygritte tried to press his patience. Best to keep a cool head here, he thought. He grabbed the wildling's arms and hoisted her up. He secured the rope around his right arm and held the torch in his left.

"Move. You lead us."

Ygritte grinned, "Trusting a savage to get you home Jon? What will your masters think when they hear of this?" saying nothing else as she started to walk.

Jon wasn't positive how long they were walking without having the sun to tell time, but he was sure it had been a few hours at least. He was starting to tire and the coldbegan to seep into his bones. Ygritte seemed to be doing just as bad. Her pace slowed drastically and her breaths were distinctively louder.

"How much longer?" Jon asked after considering how far they must have gone. After a few seconds she stopped and turned to him, "I don't have the faintest idea Jon, but we need to rest. Keep going and we'll find out if we freeze to death or die from exhaustion first."

"We can't stop or we'll freeze," Jon said in between labored breaths. Ygritte's exhausted face found a smile and said, "We can rest here and use each other's bodies to keep warm." Jon forced a dry laugh, "What, so you can take my sword to drive it through me in the night?" Ygritte's smile widened even more, "I won't be able to survive tonight without you. Besides it would be a shame to kill a man with such a pretty face."

Jon let s scowl adorn his face but he knew two things. The first is that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill the wildling. The second was that without a fire or another to share heat with, he would freeze to death soon. "Fine, but don't try anything else or you'll find those clothes on my back to keep me from freezing." Ygritte laughed, "So that's the excuse you would use to ravage my body?"

Jon's scowl deepened and he said, "I am a man of the Night's Watch. I have taken oath to never bed a women." Ygritte let out a chuckle, "I bet you crows just don't know where to put it."

"I know where to put it!" Jon said gruffly.

"Then why don't you show me where you put it Jon Snow?" Ygritte said with a sultry voice.

Jon decided not to say anything else and began to use the rope he had as a leash to wrap around Ygritte and secure her while they rested. He laid down next to her and once he was comfortable he snuffed the torch so it wouldn't burn through the hours they slept. Falling to sleep was difficult for many reasons, but the main one was when Ygritte "was getting comfortable."

When Jon woke he opened his eyes and was met with darkness. After a small panic he was found his bearings and remembered where he was and how get got there. Ygritte was still next to him and her presence was the only thing keeping Jon from losing hope. He was in a situation against odds but he wasn't in it alone.

Breaking physical contact Jon started panning the ground around him to find the torch. When his hands finally found it, something in the distance caught his eyes. He blinked several times and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. There, a faint light in the distance beckoned. He quickly lit the torch and untied Ygritte, "I've seen light ahead let's move".

The faint light wasn't visible with the torch alit but he made sure to know its direction. After five minutes of walking, the small light was seen ahead and with the light came a passage. Stone walls came into view and Jon never thought he was so happy to see masonry work before. As the two walked into the passage they ended in front of a large set of stone doors. The doors were covered with markings of the first men and the light they were following seeped through cracks across the doors. Jon sat the torch down and grabbed the handles. He pulled the door and it didn't even budge. He pulled harder, still no luck. He propped one leg on the wall and pulled with all his strength. Still nothing.

"Give me a hand. The door is stuck." Jon said through labored breaths. Ygritte smirked and held up her hands, "So sorry but my hands are tied." Jon sighed and resigned himself. He walked over and drew his blade, resting it on the rope, "Try anything and I'll cut you." Ygritte put on a mocked face of fear and said "Cut me? What will you be using? That fancy sword in your hands or the one between your legs?"

Jon's face flared and whatever he tried to say came out as a sputter of mumbles. Ygritte seemed to know just what to say when poking fun at him. He eventually cleared his head to cut the rope. Jon sheathed his sword and beckoned the wildling over. They both held the handle and together they pulled. It did not yield right away but eventually he felt the door give. Instead of swinging open though, the door crumbled and fell apart into large piece of stones. Instantly the two were blinded by light and buffed with heat. After his body adjusted to the drastic change in conditions Jon looked past the door and was met with the impossible.

Ahead of them was nothing but an expanse of white, and not white from snow but an unearthly white which had the intensity of sun emitting from every direction. The warmth inside the room was just as strange. After his skin moved past the tingling feelings of steeping next to a warm fire in a blizzard he guessed it was the temperature of a warm day in the summer. How such a place existed was beyond his comprehension so he summed the impossible sight in front of him as some sort of witch craft.

Jon just continued to stare until Ygritte stepped into the mythical room, pulling him from his stupor. He grabbed her arm and when she turned to face him Jon said, "Why are you going in there?! This place is not normal we should leave, now!"

Ygritte tilted her head and appeared to seriously ponder the question until she shrugged and said, "It's warm and bright in here and dark and cold out there, the decision is obvious is it not?" With that said she pulled back her arm and continued into the fray.

"I swear to the old gods and new that this room will be the end of us."

Ygritte stopped and turned around to say, "Us? Jon Snow I thought it was just me in here," and with that she spun on her heel and continued to move forward.

Jon cursed and followed her in with a quick pace to catch up. When he caught up he saw where Ygritte was heading. In what he assumed was the center of the room was some sort of floating sphere. When the two finally stood in front of said object he wasn't sure what to make. Inside the perfectly smooth sphere was a person! What the sphere was and how the person trapped inside got there, were the first questions that sprung up in his mind. Maybe it was ice so he decided to touch it. It wasn't cold but the second his hand touch the sphere a million cracks formed and he instinctively took a step back. The sphere's surface appeared to shatter and a wave of water rushed past him with enough force to sweep Ygritte off her feet. As Jon watched the person he got his first good look at the person inside. A boy maybe a few years younger than him with sun kissed hair rested on his knees unmoving in a pool of water. He had the strangest clothes with a tailored pattern he never saw before. When the boy opened his eyes they were glassed over and scanned the room without focus.

Thump. Thump. What is that noise? Thump. Thump. It has a perfect rhythm. Thump. Thump. It feels really calming. Thump. Thump. Oh? Is that my heart beating.

Terrible would be the first word I would give to describe how I felt. My entire body felt limp and my senses were dull. The sounds my ears were picking up came muffled and opening my eyes only showed blurs. My heart pounded in my chest louder than ever before. I started to take a breath but met unbearable pain. My body convulsed and began shuttering without control. I could feel water rushing through my mouth but it didn't feel like vomiting. The water came elsewhere and my chest burred the entire time. My chest would burn then water flowed out of my mouth which brought seconds of relief. After the process repeated numerous times I was able to breathe without pain. Questions started to swirl in my head but my body grew tired. I willed myself to move but to no avail. "What is going on?" I managed to say before my body went completely limp.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Continued my heart in a perfect beat lulling me asleep.

Seconds after the boy came to he went on all four and began to spew water. He continued to expel liquid for a minute until he abruptly stopped which brought raged breaths from the blond. After his breathing settled the blond went back on his knees and quickly fell backwards to say "Aut quid agitur?" before he appeared to fall unconscious.

Jon stood frozen with his hand on his sword's hilt. The boy didn't appear to be a threat but being in this strange place must mean something. So Jon stood on edge as his muscles coiled ready to move in a split second. Jon kept all his focus on the mysterious boy until he caught movement in the corner of his eye. Jon only stole a glance and saw the wildling moving closing to the boy. He continued to watch until Ygritte was about to touch the boy.

"Don't," he warned.

"He needs help," she said.

"We don't even know what he is," Jon countered.

"He can speak, that's enough isn't it?" Ygritte replied.

"Sounded like mumbling to me," He said.

"He spoke in the old tongue and wanted to know what was happening. He needs help," She pressed.

"If you care so much than what will you do? Will you carry him? Ten minutes outside and he'll freeze to death in those thin wet clothes anyway. There isn't a point to take him. We're leaving him, let's go," Jon ordered.

Ygritte touched the boy's head. He seemed to be peacefully asleep with the small smile that adorned his face. Then she noticed that her clothes were no longer wet and the pool of water they were in to be gone. She chalked up the water disappearing as sorcery and started to adjust the boy to carry him. Once he was positioned right, the blond rested on her back, she stood turning to look at Jon.

"By your lead Jon Snow. With the boy you don't need to worry about me running off with another man," she said with smile.

"He is just going to slow us down. Leave him or I'll kill you both," He threatened.

"Hollow words boy. I know you won't kill me, and to murder a boy in his sleep must break every oath you ever took," Ygritte retorted.

Jon found his frown deepening before he finally caved to the wildling's words. He kept scowling as he said, "Let's go."

He left the strange room and turned, waiting for the wilding. When she crossed the threshold the white room started to warp. Spots of color started to appear in the white expanse, and the second they formed the spots twisted and moved. Something was happening and his body screamed to move. He wrapped his arm around the blond andhoisted him on his shoulder. He didn't say anything but the message was clear: Run.

They only ran for a few seconds before the light from the room behind flared and they were thrown forward from the force of the room's implosion. The rusting explosion of energy was enough to throw Jon a few feet and disorient him. His eyes burned and showed bright white even when he closed them. A high pitch ring was the only thing he could hear. The uncomfortable sensations continued for a few minutes until the ringing stopped and the white vision started to blur with colors. When Jon was finally able to orient himself he took his bearings. First he saw snow and since he was seeing snow that means the sun was reaching him. Looking around he saw that the tunnels collapsed resulting in a cave in that led to the surface. After looking around he noticed Ygritte and the boy missing. He cursed, drawing his sword and ran up the rubble finally returning to the frozen tundra of the North. He looked around and noticed he wasn't alone. He was in fact surround by over a dozen armed wildlings.

He saw Ygritte step forward with the boy carried on her back, she must have recovered faster than Jon. She gave him the same smile she wore the past few days. "You don't mind being my captive now, do you Jon Snow?"

He dropped his sword and was taken prisoner as told to do. He learned that his squad of rangers died because of him and that he and his captain Qhorin were the only surviving members of the squad, both currently captives of the wildlings. He would spy on the wildlings by becoming one and to convince them that he wanted to be one of the free folk he killed his commander Qhorin by his orders. Still a captive but no longer bound he was to be watched by Ygritte as they traveled to the caravan of the king beyond the wall. She still carried the boy who had yet to regain consciousness. Somewhere along the way he was dressed with clothes worn by the wildlings.

"The boy still hasn't woken up yet," Jon stated, breaking the silence he held since killing Qhorin.

Ygritte gave him a worried glance. Jon was barely a man in her eyes and to kill one of your own did things to a man. She decided to try and distract Jon as much as possible so she answered, "He hasn't so much stirred a bit. Worried he might be sick. Hasn't moved, eaten, or drank anything since he fell back asleep in that room."

"Aren't you free folk scared of him? He might be a dark sorcerer or spell weaver," Jon said which sounded like he wasn't really worried at all.

"This pretty boy, evil?" she asked, turning to look at the blond nestled on her back. "No way such a pretty boy could be wicked. Besides he speaks using the old tongue like us free folk," she offered.

"I was always told by my father that the most beautiful things are the always the most deadly," Jon said somewhat reminiscently.

Ygritte smiled brighter than Jon had ever seen before and she said, "Then you must be the deadliest thing in all the lands." Jon's face furrowed in confusion at first before blushing a bright scarlet followed by incoherent mumbles. Ygritte light heartedly laughed before saying, "Jon you need to learn to laugh too when someone pokes fun at you."

Whatever response Jon was thinking of using died in his head. The blond resting on Ygritte's back stretched his arms up and out and then leaned back. The second the blond leaned far enough back he fell flat on his back in the powdered snow. Jon and Ygritte stopped in their tracks to stare at the boy.

The blond laid completely still until he yelled, "Quid infernum est sic damnant frigus?!" followed by frantic flailing. Every single free folk erupted into laughter, even the lord of bones was chuckling to himself. The laughter was contagious enough to bring a smirk to Jon's face.

"What did the boy say that was so funny?" Jon asked. The second Jon spoke, the blond snapped his attention towards him. There was a curious gaze in the blond's stare, but Jon was too busy staring at the tattoos on his cheeks. Maybe they were some sort of clan markings that free folk had, so Jon asked, "What are those markings on your face for?"

The boy's expression just shifted in confusion with a tilt of his head before he spoke again in the old tongue, "Quid dicis?"

"Communi loquitur," Ygritte replied before looking at Jon answering the questions she knew he had, "First he asked why it was so cold, then he wanted to know what you were saying. It doesn't look like he knows the common tongue."

The lord of bones walked back to Ygritte, setting his gaze on the boy. Ygritte said he was a wandering free folk but with what he was wearing when they found him and not knowing the common tongue, the lord of bones was growing wary of the boy.

"You are watching the crow already, leave this one to me," said Rattleshirt. Ygritte frowned and coolly replied, "I have two eyes, one for each of them."

"Something is strange with this one," Rattleshirt said gesturing to the boy and continuing with, "Free he is, like the rest of us but if he is unwilling to follow the king, we'll take back the cloths we gave him. I need to know where he stands, better to kill him now than to abandon him later if he will not follow us."

Ygritte's trademark smile turned up, "Both need to learn the way we live. I can teach these two with the old and new tongue. Hearing the other language will be a good way to learn."

Rattleshirt's reply was gruff and strained, "Fine you can watch them both. Don't get too attached though. Rayder may choose to kill them." With that said he walked off to lead the caravan.

With Rattleshirt out of the way, Ygritte looked to Jon and said, "We still don't know his name, introduce yourself," she reiterated the same to the blond.

Jon looked at the blond before offering a hand to shake. The boy recognized the gesture and took the offered hand.

"Jon Snow."

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Ygritte."

With introductions out of the way she began to explain where they were headed and the general life of the free folk. Ygritte told the two many things from how the free folk lived day to day, to how Mance Rayder united the clans. Jon half listened to the history lesson but Naruto seemed to commit everything said to memory. He even asked a few questions but the more and more Ygritte talked, the more Naruto seemed to brood. When Ygritte finished explaining the basics the two would need to know when living in Rayder's camp, an uncomfortable silence formed. Eventually Naruto broke the silence by asking "I have a few questions. Do you mind answering them?" Ygritte inclined her head for Naruto to continue.

"Do you know where fire country is?"

"No. Never heard of it."

"Where is the nearest shinobi village."

"What does shinobi mean?"

"A ninja." Naruto said but was met with the same confused look. "A person who trains with chakra," he clarified.

"What is chakra?"

With every question Naruto asked, his mood drastically dropped. His expression looked between a mix of depression and anger.

"Last question. What year is it?"

Ygritte hesitated to reply but with Naruto's burning gaze she had to give an answer. "The year is 299 AL."

The second Ygritte said those words Naruto froze. With the abrupt stop, Jon and Ygritte turned to look at the him. Naruto was shaking. No, that wasn't right. He was tensing. Every muscle in his body was twitching. Like a tightened spring he was ready to explode. A feeling of dread began radiating from him. The two unconsciously backed away with their instincts screaming for them to run. Without even realizing it Ygritte had a dagger drawn and pointed at Naruto with shaking hands. Ygritte compared the fear she felt to the first time she met a giant, but multiplied tenfold. A scream almost escaped her throat but Ygritte stifled it fast enough that only a gasp was heard.

The noise seemed to pin Naruto's focus onto her and the second he looked into her eyes, she felt pure inferiority for the first time. The aura Naruto radiated gave the presence of an all powerful being. Ygritte thought that if a god was to stand before her the same feeling would be reciprocated. The eye contact broke and when he looked down at the knife she was holding, it slipped from her grasp. The second Ygritte dropped the knife the presence was gone as if it never existed. Naruto snapped out of his focus and casually reached down for the blade. He retrieved it and presented it to Ygritte asking, "You dropped this?"

She risked a glance at Jon to see if what she felt didn't only affect her. His face was as white as snow, ironically enough. Turning her attention back to Naruto, she gave a weak nod before retrieving the dagger. They walked the rest of the journey in silence, Naruto trying to piece together the information swirling in his head, Jon coping with the death of his captain by his own hands, and Ygritte questioning the intentions of the increasingly mysterious blond boy.

After a few hours more hours of travel, the caravan finally reached the village. Jon's first impression of the free folk at home was chaos. Every person had their own agenda where they performed various tasks without any sort of structured unity. The way free folk operated completely contrasted his recent months of life at the wall where everyone had a place to be and a job to do. The way wildlings were able to do whatever they please and still function in such a large village appealed to the young crow.

With Jon absorbed in his surroundings, it didn't take him to long to notice the giant taking wooden poles and pounding them into the snow with his hand. All he could do was stop and stare at a creature he believed only existed in stories. Jon's abrupt stop caused Naruto who was too preoccupied with his thoughts to bump into him. The contact jostled Naruto from his musings to look up and notice the giant. The same dumbfounded expression on Jon's face found its way onto Naruto's at they started at the humanoid.

"Never seen a giant before crow?" Ygritte asked. Jon shook his head confirming her suspicions. She let out a small chuckle before continuing with, "Better not stare Jon. Giants don't like attention too much and they've been known to beat a man dead for lesser offensives."

Ygritte was about to repeat the warning to Naruto but couldn't as a blur flew past her at the speed of a horse in full gallop. The figure moved so quickly she wasn't able to identify what it was until the golden hue on top gave it away. How Naruto moved so quickly was nothing but inhuman, so Ygritte chalked it off as some sort of sorcery.

Naruto stopped right in front of the giant with a beaming smile. He waited until the giant stopped its task and regarded him before yelling "How the hell did you get so big? What's your secret? Milk? You gotta to tell me!"

With all of his attention focused on his burning curiosity, Naruto didn't even notice everyone who heard him stopping to stare with utter shock plastered on their faces.

The giant grunted before replying in a raspy voice "Go bother someone else dwarf before you try my patience."

"Aw, come on! Don't be like that. Tell me how you got so freaking big." he pleaded.

The giant made a noise in the back of his throat sounding awfully similar to a growl. The gesture didn't even faze the ninja who had a tendency to be unpredictable. Deciding to just force the blond away the giant moved to swat him. He moved slow enough that it would just knock him over or slide him away. Naruto simply ducked under the arm as it continued on its path. The giant narrowed his eyes and spoke with a tinge of anger, "Leave now before I decide to crush you."

"Now now, I've never liked people who look down on me. Just tell me your secret and I'll be on my way."

The giant raised his right arm to full length above its head. When he clenched his hand into a fist Naruto sighed. He spurred his chakra and felt the energy begin circulating in his system. The feeling of a second heart cycling his chakra with every beat began. With practiced ease he directed the overabundant maelstrom of energy to his muscles just in case the giant decided to follow through with its threat. A few seconds passed as the tension built. A few windlings were considering apologizing on theblond's behalf before hauling him off with a beating to knock some sense into the crazed boy's head.

"Leave." the giant warned.

Naruto didn't move a muscle. Another second passed before the creature brought its fist down as fast as possible. Everyone watching was expecting a bloody mesh of the foolish boy when they heard the sound of the giant's blow connecting with its target. What they didn't expect was for the boy to halt the attack with one arm. But sure enough, there he stood with one arm raised above his head holding the giant's arm. Some thought the giant stopped his attack mid swing but the small crater with spider web cracks around Naruto said otherwise. An unearthly silence fell onto the village as they all waited to see what happened next.

The giant's eyes were budging as they bore into Naruto until a grin split his face.

"You are the strongest halfling I've ever seen. What is your name?"

A grin found its way onto Naruto's face, mirroring that of the giant's, "Naruto Uzumaki at your service. What's your name?"

"Ragnor."

"Well Ragnor, you are the weakest giant I've ever seen."

Ragnor gave the blond a glare before he abruptly burst into laughter "You're a funny dwarf. Come see me later and we'll feast together."

Naruto turned around and Ragnor resumed his task, ending the conversation that the entire village was listening too. Naruto had a smile on his face and his hands behind his head. It wasn't until he made it half way back to Jon and Ygritte that he noticed everyone was staring at him. Not a single person in sight was anything but a statue with their gaze fixated on him. Naruto was looking around nervously until he rejoined his two companions who's faces were expressionless.

"What's up with everyone? Why are they all looking at me?"

No response. Naruto moved his arm in front of Ygritte and then started waving it. Still no response. He poked her in the head and the action seemed to bring her out of her stupor. A variety of emotions flashed across her face in a matter of seconds. She kept opening and closing her mouth with the indecision of what to ask. After a few more jaw exercises Ygritte was finally able to ask something, "How did you do that?".

"Do what?" Naruto asked with legitimate confusion.

"Stop the giant's blow."

"Oh that's easy. He wasn't that strong," Naruto paused for a few seconds before continuing, "Hey I'm starving, can we get something to eat?"

Ygritte wasn't sure if Naruto was dodging the question or if he actually believed the giant wasn't strong, but when met with strength that dwarfed a giants, one did not easily refuse the requests they made.

The trio continued towards the center of the village and instead of sticks and stones thrown at the crow, hushed mummers were the only thing the three were met with. Fear and animosity began building around the villages for the two new strange additions at their camp. One a crow of the accursed Night's Watch, the other a mysterious boy who had the strength of a giant. Ygritte led Jon to Rayder and then left with Naruto to get some food in him. While most boys Naruto's age had big appetites, the amount of food he packed away was unbelievable. She could have sworn the blond ate his entire weight's worth. Since the incident with the giant, Ygritte had been silently observing the boy. Her normal fast wit and sly words died in her throat when she thought of who she was speaking too.

After Naruto finished he leaned back and sighed before taking in his surroundings. The past few hours were spent deep within the recesses of his mind trying to figure out how one second he was with B on turtle island, while the next he was waking up to a frozen tundra with people who spoke a language he never heard before. A headache would be an understatement since he needed to continue his training to master the Kyuubi's chakra and join the war front. If that was still possible. According to the people he was with, they used a completely different calendar, he thought that somehow he was taken to a different time. The thought was more believable than any other he suggested, but Naruto knew that the last space/time jutsu user was his father. Still those thoughts would have to wait as he regarded Ygritte who was staring at him with a stone face.

"What?" Naruto asked. Ygritte flinched when he addressed her and he winced. He waited for her to answer but she kept looking at him like a cornered rabbit. "What's wrong? Did I do something I shouldn't have? Why is everyone looking at me weird now that we arrived at this village?"

Ygritte looked at the blond as her face twisted from fear then to confusion and ending with a blank stare. "You stopped a giant's attack with one arm. You did it like it was nothing." Naruto shared the same confusion "It was nothin,." Naruto insisted as he went to elaborate. "He wasn't even that strong. Hell there are a lot of people stronger than me like Tsuande obaa-chan at my village."

"I don't know what kind of village you come from, but here no man has near the strength to match a giants'. Especially an old lady. What you did out there has never been done before Naruto. If you are as strong as you say you are, there isn't another in the world that could best you in strength, let alone come close."

What Ygritte said to him made no sense. Naruto fought primarily with taijutsu and while he was physically stronger than most other shinobi, there were plenty others stronger than him. Hell he wasn't anywhere near Lee's level and he would probably barely be able to match him in sage mode. Then it clicked. People here must not know how to manipulate chakra. Deciding to confirm the thought he stilled his body and brought in natural energy. Not enough to enter sage mode, but enough to provide heightened sensing. Extending his senses to the people around him, Naruto found out he was right. Chakra was flowing through them like it did with everything, but their coils had never been activated. Their reserve were nonexistent and they reminded him of the villagers who never built up chakra once in their lives.

Naruto vaguely remembered hearing that there were lands to the East of the shinobi nations that were unexplored. Maybe he ended up there somehow. He needed answers.

"Ygritte do you have any continental maps?"

The question seemed to surprise her but she nodded and left the tent. She returned a few minutes later and gave the rolled up map to him. Naruto opened it up and spreadit along a table. He didn't recognize any of the boundaries or land marks, but something about it seemed vaguely familiar. He kept looking at the map as the familiar feeling tingling in the back of his head got stronger. Naruto just kept staring and staring hoping to find something he knew. Then it clicked. The shape of the continent was the same as the one the five shinobi nations occupied. The only differences were the boundaries drawn and the giant wall on the north side of the continent, otherwise it was an overlay on the maps he saw growing up. The news was startling to say the least.

"Where exactly did you find me Ygritte?"

She began to explain the situation of her and Jon and leading to the strange door and room they found in the cave. Naruto listened and the more and more she told him, the bigger the frown on his face grew. After she was done explaining, Naruto asked a question, "Can you draw the diagram below the thing holding me?"

Ygritte nodded and retrieved paper along with ink and a quill. Seeing the outdated writing utensils made Naruto shudder. Maybe he really did end up in the past. He waited patiently without looking as Ygritte tried to draw the fuuinjutsu in the room that Naruto was sure was the same one on turtle island. From the drawing he was able to learn two things. The first was that it was some sort of seal since it was circular in design. Second that it was written with kanji, like seals were supposed to be made with. Naruto took the diagram and drew some basic kanji that would be present in almost any seal.

"The symbols on the drawings looked like this?" he inquired.

"Yes. Those are the symbols the first men used," Ygritte confirmed.

"First men? There are people who know this?!" Naruto asked with a little enthusiasm.

"Well no. The first men were just that, the first men. The first people we know of. They are the ancestors to us all. Little is known about them since they are around ten thousand years old."

Naruto's frown came back until he found thought of his next question, "Do you have any books or knowledge of the first men?"

"No and no. The best chance you would have finding information regarding the fist men is in Winterfell, but that keep is past the wall. Doubt you would be able to get there without a guide," Ygritte added.

Naruto bit his lip and rested his hands behind his head before saying, "I'll be fine on my own. Any chance that I was carrying things with me when you found me?"

"Yes," came her hesitant reply.

"Well can I get my stuff back?" He asked.

Ygritte didn't answer and her eyes kept flicking to the entrance of the hut. She looked like a frightened animal again causing Naruto to sigh.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"You are supposed to talk to Mance Rayder before anything else," Ygritte answered quietly.

"Oh. That's fine, when can I see him?" Naruto asked.

"You're not angry?" she asked.

"Why would I be angry?" he asked like it was the dumbest question ever asked.

Ygritte decided to choose her words carefully before she answered, "Best not to make those with power angry."

Naruto gave her a dry look before replying, "Well I would never hurt my friends so I don't see what you have to be scared of," with a small chuckle. His words seemed to calm her down and the two chattered over small talk that let them learn a bit about each other. Eventually a man entered the room and told the two that Rayder was ready to see Naruto.

Naruto walked though the village and silence seemed to follow him. Eventually they came to a stop in front of a tent and he was gestured in. Walking inside he was met with three men. Two were conversing in the strange tongue Naruto didn't know over a table stacked with papers while the third was off to the side sharpening an axe. One of them looked up and said something before dropping his head back to his work. Naruto waited and eventually the man lifted his head up and repeated what he said the first time with a frown.

"I don't understand what you're asking me," Naruto said.

The man looked up with skepticism before saying, "I was asking for your name boy."

"Naruto Uzumaki," came Naruto's immediate reply.

"A strange name for a strange boy," Rayder began before muttering something to the man next to him at the table. He then focused all of his attention on Naruto before asking, "Where do you come from?" Naruto again answered right away, "Konoha." Rayder's eyes narrowed before his continued his investigation "Never heard of it before and I know all the lands here in the North. Lying to me would not be a wise decision." Naruto frowned and stated, "Well you never met anyone like me before so I doubt you ever heard of Konoha." The retort caused uncertainty to flash across Rayder's before he continued with, "Well you must be far from home. How did you get here, and what were you doing in the ruins of the first men?" Naruto's response again came immediately, which pressed Rayder to believe he was telling the truth, "I have no clue how I ended up in this freezing place with this, 'Naruto gestured to his clothes on,' It's so ugly, not a smidge of orange on it. Anyway the place you found me in was a training area of my village." Rayder sighed before continuing his questioning "Say I believe you. What will you do now?" Naruto rested his hands behind his head and thought for a few seconds before answering, "I want to go to Winterfell."

His answer caused all three men to freeze and move their right hands to the hilt of their weapons. Eventually Rayder asked, "Why would you go there?"

"Ygritte said they have knowledge on the first men," Naruto responded as if it were obvious.

"Pray tell why you want to learn of the first men?" Rayder asked like he would to a child.

"I believe they were my people. They use the written language that I use. I think they are my best chance of finding out what happened to me."

Rayder gave Naruto's reply some thought before conversing with the other two men in the room with common tongue. They appeared to be arguing as their voices quickly turned to shouts. Rayder yelled the word Naruto recognized as stop from Ygritte's translations and the other two fell silent. Rayder looked at Naruto before speaking "The people of Winterfell only speak with the common tongue. If you are willing to teach us how to become as strong as you, we are willing to teach common tongue."

Naruto considered the deal but found it at his disadvantage. "Only children can learn, and it will take years to teach them. I can learn the language in a week if I really tried. I thank you for what you have done for me but I will leave for Winterfell as soon as possible. If you are willing to teach me the language I'll be in your debt."

Naruto's response was less then desirable to the king beyond the wall but forcing the boy to stay didn't seem like an option. Still he needed something from the boy before he gave him a teacher and let him go. Maybe he could strike a deal.

"Creatures that have slept for thousands of years are beginning to rise. A battle is coming and if we lose this battle all men will be in danger. When the time comes, can we count of your strength for the fight?"

One of the other men spoke up "You are going to let him leave with just a promise?! Free folk make promises all the time and they only follow through if it pleases them."

Before any of them could argue the matter, Naruto spoke up, "My nindo is to never go back on my word, and I never break my nindo." The sincerity that Naruto put into his statement calmed the two other men and left Rayder with a smile.

"You have a deal then. All that's left is a way for me to call you when the time comes. I expect you to send a raven once a month letting me know what keep you're at." Naruto thought that here people must use ravens to carry messengers between villages instead of hawks. He nodded to show he accepted the deal.

Naruto and Rayder mirrored grins before he called for Ygritte. Once she entered Rayder issued an order, "Ygritte since you found the crow and he will be in your care, so will this boy. He will be in your care until he can speak the common tongue, so best start as soon as possible. Now leave. Oh, and before you go, if you're wondering why you have to watch Naruto too it's because the lord of bones told me just how possessive you were for the poor boy." Everyone in the tent had a smile plastered on their face except for Ygritte who just had her work tripled in one day.

In the blink of an eye a week passed by at the camp. With Ygritte's stringent schedule she didn't feel free any longer. The entire first day with her two new charges was spent cooped inside a tent explaining the basics of the common tongue to Naruto. It took roughly twelve hours for Naruto to learn the groundwork of the twenty six letter alphabet system. The next day was even more stressful. After two hours of lessons Naruto demanded numerous texts centered around learning the new language. Eventually Ygritte relented and give into his demands. The second Naruto received the books he left with Jon and Ygritte to perform the delegated tasks assigned to them. This ended up with Ygritte having to do three times her normal work load for the day since neither Naruto nor Jon knew basic survival skills in the tundra. They caught on quick and were able to assist near the end of the day but by then Ygritte had already completed their quota. When they returned to the village, Naruto raced ahead of the two to arrive at their tent first. When they arrived he said he was finished with a few books and almost completed most of them in the common tongue. How he improved so quickly from the few minutes he had alone with the books was beyond them.

The next day was much more relaxing as the morning lesson was only half an hour before Naruto asked for more books. Again right after he received them he set to work reading one and the second Jon and Ygritte left he followed them out seconds later. They completed their assigned work in a couple hours, taking only an hour longer than most other hunters in the village. When they returned to the village, again Naruto raced ahead of them to their tent. When they arrived Naruto spoke to them in the common tongue at the level of a small child and was even able to understand things they said in turn.

The next three days had the same routine of Naruto somehow reading nearly all of the material provided to him within the few minutes he had with it. With how quickly Naruto and Jon were able to set snares and complete manual tasks, it didn't take long for the free folk to warm up to them. Every day Naruto's common tongue improved by remarkable rates that bordered on unbridled genius. Everyone he talked to left with a indistinguishable impression that left much more to be desired. By the end of the week the blond was welcomed by many as a friend and the way he made giants laugh left tensions low between the intermixed races. In a week's time, Naruto was able to make a place for himself among the free folk. He became adept enough at the common tongue that you would have thought it was his first language if he didn't have an accent.

The time came when he was set to leave and many people banded together to see him off. A few people that connected with him during the week organized a small going away party for him. Jon and Ygritte were put off by his decisive decision to leave but the two secretly relished the prospect of having the tent to themselves. Once everyone said their farewells, he made his way off to Rayder's tent. He was given the articles that were taken from him at his arrival and offered a single person escort to the wall. After Naruto's adamant insistence that another would only slow him down he was given leave with only a compass and direction to the wall. They told him of a few passages that would let him travel through the wall but he only half listened to them. He planned to just scale the wall.

With everything he needed in a bag on his back Naruto headed out of the village at a normal pace. It wasn't until he distanced himself enough that he surged ahead with chakra enhanced muscles.

As muscle memory started kicking in Naruto switched to auto pilot as he ran across the frozen tundra. His mind wandered to replay the events of the past week.

'First I know that the continent I'm on is the same as the shinobi nations; somewhere near the coast of demon country. Second is that the time period is off with mine either through the past or into the future. Third my last memory was entering the temple of turtle island with B. Fourth the entire country is in war over some sort of secession. Fifth, people don't know how to control chakra. Six, the Kyuubi is still sealed inside of me. Seventh, mythical creatures exist like dragons, giants, and things called white walkers. Eigth, I'm on my way to Winterhold to learn about the first men. Ninth, Jon and Ygritte found me in what I assume was the temple at turtle island. Tenth and lastly, I can use chakra, jutsu, and sage mode. The cycle of hatred burns stronger here than back home. Hopefully I can make peace before only death can be found.'


End file.
